Thimble Hall - smallest detached house in the World

In the Derbyshire village of Alstonefield, near Bakewell is the tiny Thimble Hall.

Des. Res. 2 rooms, no kitchen, no bathroom, no running water, suitable for large family or conversion to retail premises. Viewing highly recommended. When Thimble Hall was auctioned in 1999 with a guide price of £5000, bids came in from across the World and the price rose to an amazing £39,500.

This tiny 18th century house is acknowledged by the Guiness Book of records as the smallest detached house in the World. The two rooms each measure just 8ft by 7ft. The upper floor is reached by a fixed ladder and the house has a stone hearth and exposed beams. At one time this was home to a family of eight. The last residents in the early 1930's were brother and sister Charlie and Jinnie Frisky. Since then it has served as a butchers, antique shop and cobblers.

Thimble Hall is currently owned by the Frederick family, ice cream manufacturers of Chesterfield. who intend using it as a craft gallery. The family are descendants of their Italian business founder who in 1875 walked the 1000 miles from Italy to Derbyshire.

Levent

This is Istanbul's skyscraper city. A newly developed district on the north side linked to the city centre by metro. Here dual carriageway roads are lined with the head offices of banking and telecoms businesses. The tallest building stands at 54 storeys.  A shopping centre serves the suburban streets and apartment blocks. Nearby are leafy avenues of large villas, many protected by security guards and fierce dogs.

 

 

This work by Turkish sculptor Ilhan Koman is titled "Akdeniz" (White Sea or Mediterranean) and stands in front of the Yapi Credi Insurance Company building.

Building Houses.

I have often been required to build housing models. Occasionally these take the form of a one-off  architecct designed house although more commonly a model of a development is required. Here are a few examples.

An arts and crafts styled house to be built in the Fylde area of Lancashire. The development included a "Coach House" to the rear which comprised two further homes.

Congleton Cattle Market closed as business moved to the larger markets elsewhere.  Seddon's redevelopment of the site provided homes in a number of different styles arranged around a green. The model formed a centrepiece in the show home.

The owner of this house in Cheshire required a model to view a proposed extension. The roof is cut away to reveal the arrangement of the staircase and landings which wrap around a chimney breast.

A housing development on redundant railway land in North Liverpool. This model at 1:500 scale shows a small section of the scheme.

 

A small housing development in Bollington which attracted some local opposition as the site had for many years been open land.  The model at 1:200 scale was for public consultation and to support the planning application.

A small overgrown site in the centre of a Lancashire village was the location for this development of small homes. Parking was provided to the rear of the houses which were arranged around a new village pond.

A development of retirement homes proposed for a "brownfield" site in Blackpool 

Also in Blackpool, a development of apartments. Parking is provided in an underground garage.

Macclesfield Town Centre

My model at 1:500 scale was one of four competition entries for a proposed town centre redevelopment. The scheme designed by BDP envisaged a new pedestrian shopping thoroughfare, cinema and department store.  A public exhibition presented the alternative schemes and Macclesfield Council approved a proposal which unfortunately was delayed by the recession.  The anchor store subsequently withdrew and plans have now been revised. A much reduced proposal will see development take place on land that is currently used for car parking and will perhaps be leisure rather than retail based.

The model illustrated below, featured existing buildings in grey and new developments in white.

Chief Office

This building on Castle Street in Macclesfield was originally the Town's Head Post Office.  To the rear was the sorting office.  The counter was eventually moved to a new building opposite and the sorting office to a new site away from the town centre. The vacant building then became the chief office of the Cheshire Building Society following an extensive refurbishment. The Cheshire had been based in the town since its formation in  1870 and through a number of mergers, grew to be the 11th largest building society in the country.  By 2008 the society was posting heavy trading losses and its future was uncertain. A merger was agreed with the Nationwide and from 2010 the Macclesfield office was closed.
This substantial building remains vacant. One recent proposal was to incorporate it into the adjacent shopping centre providing new or extended retail units.

The model at 1:200 scale was used for publicity purposes at shows and exhibitions. This was a well detailed model with a glazed roof area which gave a view into the atrium.